You’ve probably had it for years and never once thought to change it, but is it your ‘shelly_luvs_vodka86’ email address putting employers off inviting you for an interview?

The jobs market continues to be a pretty competitive place for jobseekers, so the emphasis to try and make the best impression with your CV and covering letter still holds true. But some candidates are sending out all the wrong signals with just this one little lapse and leading prospective employers to put their applications right at the bottom of the pile.

From the risqué to the ridiculous, as a recruiter I try to see past all the not-so-professional email addresses I’ve encountered over the years and attempt not to make an unconscious judgement on that person until I’ve actually spoken to them.

But for employers with a limited amount of time to spend on recruitment, seeing an email address that lacks professionalism could be all it takes for your application to be passed over.

Employers prefer applicants with professional sounding email addresses that includes both their first name and surname. With so many people having at least one email account getting a combination of both can prove to be very tricky, after all, there’s literally thousands of people out there with the same name as you.
What I’d recommend here is perhaps adding the current year (2016), or a number to the end of the email address that isn’t your date of birth. Employers neither need, nor want to know the year you were born as this could cause bias or discrimination during the recruitment process.

Be wary of using symbols such as hashtags, underscores and especially the letter x to end your email address as again this doesn’t look professional and is probably best used for a personal account that you won’t be using to seek employment with.

So before you go firing off any applications, take a moment to ask yourself ‘is your email address damaging your job search?’. If the answer is yes, its time for a change!

For more experts tips on how to get ahead in your job search, speak to our friendly team or recruitment specialists today

Managing Director at Appointments, Emma has spent 15 years building up a stellar reputation for commercial recruitment excellence across a variety of industries and sectors. There’s no staffing challenge Emma hasn’t encountered and her insight into the recruitment landscape has assisted countless clients achieve their goals over the years.

Specialising in the legislative and procedural side of business operations and through her extensive knowledge and continual training, Emma has a wealth of legal and contractual recruitment knowledge to help advise and support organisations of any size and in any industry.